Spoons: the Traditional Way

Introduction: Spoons: the Traditional Way

This is the traditional way to play the game spoons. You will need a deck of cards and spoons. You will need one less spoon as there are players. So, if there are 5 players you will need 4 spoons. We recommend that you play on a table, as this makes the game easier and move quicker.

The goal is to have a spoon at the end of the game. Cards are passed, at a relatively fast pace, around the table Once a player collects 4 of a kind, he or she grabs a spoon. When one player takes a spoon, the other players should as well. The player that is left without a spoon does not participate in the following rounds of the game.

We recommend you read through the instructions first and then set up a practice round.

Step 1:

Gather your spoons and deck of cards. We recommend playing with non-plastic spoons, as those may break during the game. Each player needs to sit around a table or in a circle.

Step 2:

Arrange the spoons in the middle of the table or circle, making sure the spoons are placed opposite of each other. See Figure 1.

Step 3:

Assign one player to be the dealer for the first round. The dealer should shuffle the deck of cards and pass 4 cards to each player, including himself. See Figure 2. Each player should make sure the other players do not see his or her cards.

Step 4:

The dealer starts the game by picking up one card from the deck and choose to keep it or pass it to the player on his left. See Figure 3. The dealer should make this decision based on whether or not he believes he will be able to have 4 of a kind before any other player. If he decides to keep it, he has to pass a card from his hand to the player on his left. See Figure 4.

This action should be fast!

Step 5:

The next player to receive the card the dealer passed makes the same decision the dealer had to make as shown in Figure 5. He either picks up the card and passes a different card to the left or passes the card the dealer gave him as shown in Figures 6 and 7.

Step 6:

Each player repeats step 5 with the card passed from their right. The player sitting to the right of the dealer will not pass the cards back to the dealer, but instead place them into a pile.

Note: If the dealer gets to the bottom of the deck and no one has 4 of a kind yet, he begins taking the cards from this pile.

Step 7:

When a player collects 4 of a kind, he or she will grab a spoon. This player can be sneaky about taking it or make it obvious they have collected 4 of a kind.

Step 8:

When other players notice another player has taken a spoon, they should also grab a spoon. Since there is one less spoon as there are players, one player at the end will be left without a spoon. That person will not participate in the following rounds.

Step 9:

Start a new round with the dealer being the left of the previous dealer. He should shuffle the cards and place the spoons back as they are described in Step 2. He should also pass out 4 cards to each player, making sure to not reveal the face of the card. Follow the same steps again, beginning at Step 4

Step 10:

The game keeps repeating steps 4-9 until there is only one person left in the round. That player is the winner.